Each year, approximately 20,000 youth in foster care transition to adulthood and independent living. A majority of these young people want to pursue postsecondary education, but they are less likely to enroll in postsecondary institutions than their peers who have not interacted with the child welfare system. To address this gap, federal and state programs have been implemented to address barriers and provide supports to pursue a college degree including the Education and Training Voucher (ETV) Program, which provides up to $5,000 per year to youth to attend college or training program. This study is the first multi-state evaluation of the ETV program using administrative data to examine ETV use and educational outcomes on the full population of eligible youth. This study used child welfare administrative data on the foster care histories of all youth who were age 16 or older in foster care from ten states matched with ETV program data and National Student Clearinghouse data on college enrollment and attainment. Among all youth who were in foster care after age 16, only 29% enrolled in college by the time they turned 21. Of all ETV-eligible youth who enrolled in college, only 37% received an ETV. We found through regression analysis controlling for youth demographics and child welfare histories that youth who enrolled with an ETV were more likely to graduate. Findings from the study can help inform ETV policy and practices.

每年，大约有 20,000 名寄养青年过渡到成年和独立生活。这些年轻人中的大多数人都想接受高等教育，但与未接触过儿童福利系统的同龄人相比，他们进入高等教育机构的可能性较小。为了解决这一差距，联邦和州实施了一些计划来解决障碍并为攻读大学学位提供支持，其中包括教育和培训券 (ETV) 计划，该计划每年为青年人提供高达 5,000 美元的大学或培训计划。这项研究是首次使用行政数据对 ETV 计划进行多州评估，以检查 ETV 的使用情况和对所有符合条件的青年人口的教育成果。这项研究使用了儿童福利管理数据，这些数据是来自十个州的所有 16 岁或以上寄养青年的寄养历史，与 ETV 计划数据和国家学生信息交换所的大学入学和成绩数据相匹配。在 16 岁以后接受寄养的所有青少年中，只有 29% 的人在 21 岁时进入了大学。在所有符合 ETV 资格的进入大学的青少年中，只有 37% 获得了 ETV。我们通过控制青年人口统计数据和儿童福利历史的回归分析发现，参加 ETV 的青年更有可能毕业。该研究的结果有助于为教育电视政策和实践提供信息。在 16 岁以后接受寄养的所有青少年中，只有 29% 的人在 21 岁时进入了大学。在所有符合 ETV 资格的进入大学的青少年中，只有 37% 获得了 ETV。我们通过控制青年人口统计数据和儿童福利历史的回归分析发现，参加 ETV 的青年更有可能毕业。该研究的结果有助于为教育电视政策和实践提供信息。在 16 岁以后接受寄养的所有青少年中，只有 29% 的人在 21 岁时进入了大学。在所有符合 ETV 资格的进入大学的青少年中，只有 37% 获得了 ETV。我们通过控制青年人口统计数据和儿童福利历史的回归分析发现，参加 ETV 的青年更有可能毕业。该研究的结果有助于为教育电视政策和实践提供信息。